


Girl Meets Roommates

by Monica_Rambeau



Series: GMW Season 7 [1]
Category: Girl Meets World
Genre: College, Episode: s07e01, F/F, Fluff, Rilaya, The College Years!, because i got bored of writing about high school that's why, gmw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-23
Updated: 2017-11-23
Packaged: 2019-02-05 21:34:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12802842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Monica_Rambeau/pseuds/Monica_Rambeau
Summary: Next, on an all-new Girl Meets World:Big changes greet the Clique Six on their first day at NYU! Are they ready to face them, or is it time to run and hide?(or: Welcome to Season 7!)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! We skipped a few years! Hope you enjoy!

“Alright, Riley. Now, I know that this is a big moment. Moving into your college dorm… away from your family, your friends… everything that you’ve ever known. The entire world that you’ve met and built as your own, all left far behind as you journey into the unknown. Just know, sweetheart… as far as you may go, and as challenging as this new adventure may be, you must remain strong, and know that facing this fear is the only way to grow as a person.”

Cory spoke authoritatively, his voice firm and loving with just a hint of the wavering emotion hidden behind his words. His eyes gazed steadfastly ahead.

“Dad… This is NYU. I’m literally a 5 minute walk from home, and could you loosen the grip, please?!”

Cory was shaken out of his reverie by his daughter’s words, finally releasing her from the bear hug he had been holding her in for the past monologue.

“Sorry, I just… Well, y’know…”

Riley tilted her head, a warm smile sneaking onto her face against her wishes as she looked at her father.

“Yeah, I know. Me too, Dad.”

They smiled at each other for another moment as Topanga entered the spacious dorm room, struggling with a box at least twice her size.

“Oh, over there, Mom!” Riley chirped. Topanga glared at her and her unmoving husband as she dropped the box where she stood.

“I think right here’ll work,” she huffed, moving over to hug her daughter. She raised her hands to cup her face, suddenly softly overcome.

“My little girl…” she said softly.

“Mom! Stop, or I’ll start crying! I’m practically still living at home! This isn’t going to be all that different.”

At that moment, Zay burst into the dorm, both hands occupied holding a full-to-bursting beer bong.

“Hey, Riley! Your parents leave yet?”

The three Matthews stared in shock at the young man, who looked himself like he might have an accident unrelated to the liquid in his hands.

“No, Zay,” Riley said through gritted teeth, “Not yet…”

“Ooookay… well, let me know!” He smiled and bolted back out.

The Matthews, clearly more concerned than before, turned back to their daughter. She laughed nervously, pushing them out the door.

“Oh, that Zay! What a character! Welp, I’ve got boxes to unpack and classes to prepare for, so off you go! I’ll see you guys on Sunday for dinner! Bye bye!”

 

Her parents, raising partial and futile objections, were nearly out of the dorm room when an eager blonde literally crashed into them.

“Hey, losers! Headed out already?”

Cory turned to Maya with a frown and a finger.

“You keep an eye on her, you hear me?”

“You know who you’re talkin’ to, right, Matthews?”

The sound of shattering glass followed by uproarious cheers turned her former teacher’s head.

“I’m desperate,” he pleaded, turning back to her. Topanga smiled, grabbing his arm and pulling him away.

“We’ll see you on Sunday too, Maya?” She prompted her second daughter.

“Wouldn’t miss—wait, who’s cooking?”

“Five Guys.”

“Wouldn’t miss it!”

Topanga raised a smirking eyebrow, playfully slapping Maya’s arm as she dragged her husband away. Parents gone, the young woman turned into the room, and the beautiful girl smiling at her.

“Honey.”

“Peaches!”

Riley swept Maya up in her arms, kissing her softly and sweetly. The blonde, smiling against her girlfriend’s mouth, pulled the kiss deeper and more passionate.

“Mmm…” Rilay hummed after they parted. “Why do you taste like bubbles?”

“I stopped in Zay’s room on the way over.”

Riley giggled as she turned to spread her arms.

“Well? What do you think?”

“Hmm, the bed seems big enough for both of us, so I’m a happy gal.”

Riley, slightly despondent, turned back with arched eyebrows.

“Maya, I haven’t met my roommate yet, but I’m betting she won’t like having an extra guest sleep over every night.”

Maya shrugged.

“Yeah, mine’ll probably be the same. It sucks that we couldn’t room together.”

“Yeah. That’s what I get for having my mom look over my housing paperwork.”

Her smile back, Maya wrapped her arms around her soulmate’s waist, staring up into the most beautiful eyes she’d ever see.

“So… big changes, Riles. You think we can handle ‘em?”

Riley beamed down, holding her close and getting lost in an ocean of blue.

“You with me?”

“You have to ask?”

They shared a quick, smiling kiss.

“Bring it on.”

 

(Cue Intro)


	2. Chapter 2

Riley smiled at the work in front of her, the white cinderblock wall above her bed now covered in motivational posters, inspiring images of great women throughout history and, of course, dozens of pictures of her friends, with a certain blonde most prominently featured. Lying across her desk, next to her laptop, were several swaths of purple and flowery cloth.

Her silent reverie was disrupted by the bursting open of her door, and a raven-haired woman entering with a large box overflowing with unfolded clothes and disorganized notebooks.

Riley hopped up smiling as the new arrival threw down her box, spilling it’s contents everywhere.

“Hi!” she nearly yelled, much too close. “You must be Kendra! It’s SO great to meet you! I’m—“

“Chipper,” Kendra responded dourly, uninterested in hiding her disgust. “Awesome. Look, I’ll do my best to stay out of trouble if you do your best to stay out of my… everything, ok, Ms. R.A. person?”

Riley’s brow furrowed in confusion.

“Oh, no I’m not the R.A., I’m—“

“Uck, look at this crap,” Kendra interrupted, lifting up the purple curtains on the desk. “My _roomie_ is out of her friggin’ mind if she thinks we’re putting this up. And god, are you kidding me with the posters?! What is this, a rehab clinic? And all these pictures of…” She trailed off as she inspected the photos closely, finally noticing the resemblance between the girl in her room and the girl in the pictures. She turned slowly, grim horror on her face.

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me…”

Riley, not sure whether to laugh or cry, plastered on the most convincing smile she could manage under the circumstances.

“Happy moving day…?” she offered, shrugging.

\-----

Maya sat with her hair in a messy bun, dressed completely in sweats, tapping her pencil on her desk in the amphitheater-shaped classroom. Her bored eyes kept scanning the doors on either side of the lecture space, searching for some hope of relief. They received it when Riley walked in, books huddled by her chest and gaze clouded. She, too, brightened at the sight of her girlfriend and rushed to sit next to her.

“Oh, Peaches, am I glad to see you!” Riley said after a quick kiss.

“Oh god, same! I am NOT ready to start having to pretend to care about physics without you! Why are we even taking this class?”

“Farkle asked us to take it with him. But y’know, it’s weird that we haven’t seen him yet. I know he said he and Smackle would be moving in late, but it’s the first day of classes…”

“Speaking of moving in,” Maya said with a perturbed face, “Have you met _your_ roommate yet?”

Riley immediately lost any sparkle in her eyes, her face falling to look at the floor.

“Yeah, we… yeah, I met her.”

Maya had seemed to be ready to launch into complaints of her own, but seeing Riley’s reaction immediately shifted all priorities to concern and rage.

“Riles? What’s wrong? What did she do?”

Riley played with her fingers a bit.

“She’s… not very nice…”

Maya, her eyes wide and her teeth clenched, raised her head with urgency.

“Excuse me, I just remembered that I have to go murder someone.”

Maya rose to leave but was held down by her girlfriend, smiling lovingly at her protective anger.

“No, baby, it’s fine. It’ll take some… time to adapt, but there are big changes happening all over the place! We’re in college now. Things are gonna be different. But as long as we all stick together, there’s no curve ball the universe can throw at us that we can’t handle.”

Maya looked up at the sky with pleading eyes.

“WHY would you say that?! You KNOW that every time we say something like that, something absolutely crazy happens the very next—“

“OK, PEOPLE! ATTENTION PLEASE!”

The girls turned to their new professor, a stocky, middle aged man with glasses and a kind smile. He walked in front of a desk in the center of the lecture space with a chair facing the wall.

“Thank you! Welcome to Intro to Physics 101. I am Professor Carlton, but I am mostly here in a support capacity, as we are welcoming a new faculty member to the NYU family with this class. Please welcome the youngest educator in the history of this institution… Professor Farkle Minkus!”

Riley and Maya barely had time to gasp as the previously stationary chair at the desk began to slowly turn as an ominous laugh slowly began to fill the classroom. The chair completed it’s turn to reveal a sharply dressed Farkle, fingers interwoven and legs crossed, smiling wickedly out at the sea of students before him.

“Welcome, learners…” He offered with a snide cock of his head. “Class is in session.”


	3. Chapter 3

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!”

Maya’s voice carried extremely well through the NYU halls as their first physics class under Professor Minkus let out. Farkle smiled as he walked casually over to his friends.

“If you have a grievance, Ms. Hunter, my office hours are Monday, Wednesday and—urk!”

Several students paused momentarily on their commute between classes to watch a 5 foot tall woman slam a college professor against the wall by his collar, but few lingered for fear of incurring a similar wrath.

“Oh, I think I’ma air my grievance right now!”

Riley interceded, lowering Maya’s hand.

“Farkle, why are you a professor? HOW are you a professor?”

“Seriously?” Farkle said, adjusting his tie. “You think a public school education was enough to challenge me? I’ve been taking graduate level courses online since 6th grade. I have two PhD’s!”

The girls took a moment to be duly impressed before shaking it off and resuming their aggravated state.

“Ok, fine, but why spring it on us like that?”

“And why give us a metric crapton of homework on the first day, you doink?!” Maya pushed him a bit to punctuate her statement.

Farkle narrowed his eyes with a smile.

“To remind everyone that, no matter how much I’ve grown and matured over the years, I am still Farkle, and my powers should never be underestimated. Molding impressionable young minds is but our first step in world domination.”

The girls looked at each other.

“’Our?’” They questioned together, worried.

“GUYS!” Lucas yelled as he ran up to the assembled friends, Zay jogging close behind.

“You will NEVER believe who our Bio professor is!” He paused for a moment, noticing his other friend. “Oh, hey, Farkle! When’d you get here?”

Zay stepped forward, swatting Lucas aside.

“Yeah, sure, touching reunion, but our Bio professor--!”

Riley interrupted by raising a finger.

“Umm, can I take a guess?”

At the last word an explosion of fireworks burst from either side of the adjacent classroom’s door, while synth piano began playing a heralding tune. From within the conflagration emerged a short, familiar, professionally dressed women in glasses, hands raised upward and eyes closed in reverence. At the final sting of the music, she struck a contorted pose, clearly meant to look epic, with her fingers splayed in jazz hands.

Lucas and Zay turned back to their friends.

“She did that THREE TIMES during the lecture!” Lucas exclaimed, exasperated. “She only came in the room ONCE!”

“And I deserved it every time!” Smackle replied. Farkle swooped over to give his girlfriend a kiss.

“Appropriately dramatic as always, my gorgeous governess!”

“Thank you, my ingenious instructor!” Smackle squeezed him at the waist.

Maya put her hands on her head, turning away.

“Ok, this is all too much! First my roommate is a nightmare, then you guys…”

“Peaches?” Riley turned, concerned. “What’s wrong with _your_ roommate?”

“ROOMIE!!”

Maya had scarcely opened her mouth to respond when a ludicrously energetic redhead came bounding up to her, squealing and glomping onto her.

“OMG, I can’t BELIEVE I’m running into you here! Maybe we’ll see each other on the way to classes every DAY! Can you IMAGINE? Oh, that would be just the sunniest drop in an already sunny sundae! Hey, these must be your friends! I’m Rita! I am SO EXCITED to meet all of you but I have to run before I’m tardy for my second class of college EVER! I’ll see you back at home, roomie, and we can tell each other all about our days while I make cocoa! YAAAAY! Bye, everybody!”

She ran off, leaving six shell-shocked friends in her wake.

“All. Friggin’. MORNING! And THAT was the slowest she’s talked since I met her! HOW am I supposed to live with somebody like that?!” Maya ran her hands through her hair as her friends looked between her and Riley with growing worry.

Riley, her face completely crestfallen, stepped closer to Maya.

“Peaches…” she said softly, her voice almost breaking with sorrow, “That… is so AWFUL! God, what an annoying person to be stuck with! I wouldn’t last a MINUTE!” Her voice overflowed with completely earnest compassion.

The other four leaned their heads forward, utterly gobsmacked.

“RIGHT?! I’m so glad you get it, sweetie!”

“Of course! I mean, mine’s no better. She spent all morning brooding and shooting out sarcastic comments and scribbling in her notebook!”

Maya curled her lip in disgust.

“Ugh, some moody artsy type? The WORST!”

“I KNOW! Oh, why couldn’t I be living with you?”

“Oh my god, I would give ANYTHING to be with you instead, honey!”

The girls hugged each other desperately, sharing in their misery.

The rest of the gang stood speechless.

“Should… do we tell them…?” Smackle asked quietly.

“Are you crazy?!” Zay whispered urgently. “This right here is enough to get me back to church.”

\-----

Maya stepped into her dorm room, met with extremely loud, incredibly upbeat pop music, a complete overflow of pink covering every inch of the room and her roommate, dancing loudly to the music as she hung lights around the window frame. She squealed when she saw Maya.

“MAYAAAA! Check this OUT!”

She plugged in the lights, causing them to flicker pink and purple all around the window.

Maya stood frozen, horrified.

“Isn’t this the most amazing room you’ve ever SEEN?! Doesn’t it feel just the BEST to come home after a long day of learning and meeting new friends to a place that is just EXPLODING with warm, happy feelings?! Like, I was SO NERVOUS about moving to New York, far away from my house with my family and my room with all of my pretty things in it, but LOOK, now it’s like I took my room WITH me, AND I have an awesome new BESTIE to share it with! Now, I know it doesn’t look like there’s a lot of room for your stuff, but you didn’t really look like you brought a ton so I KNEW you wouldn’t mind if I just went a little CRAZY with the decorating, especially when—“

She stopped talking at the sound of a slamming door. When she turned around, neither Maya, nor her boxes were in the room.

\-----

Riley leapt down the last few steps leading into Brittany Hall’s basement, pushing her way urgently through the stairwell door and into the laundry room.

“Peaches, I’m here! Why did you want me to meet you in the--?”

She’d only been in the laundry room once so far, just to scope it out, and remembered thinking that it seemed much cleaner than a basement room had any right to. When she entered it again, however, covered as it now was in movie posters, fine art prints, LP covers and most everything else that Maya owned, she couldn’t muster a single thought that made that much sense.

“Welcome home, Riles!” Maya shouted, sitting up on her bed, which Riley took only a moment to recognize as the three dryers covered in sheets and a comforter.


	4. Chapter 4

“Pea… what…?” Riley managed.

“Isn’t it great? And you know it’ll be nice and warm on those chilly New York winter nights! Plus…!” She dropped a coin into a slot next to her pillow, pushing it in. Her ‘bed’ began to vibrate violently. “… o-o-o-other-r-r p-p-perks-s-s!”

Riley rushed over, frustrated, and turned off the dryer.

“Aw,” Maya whined.

“What are you--?”

“I can’t live with her, Riles!” Maya exclaimed. “I thought I could but she’s gonna drive me bananas, and then who’s gonna be around to take care of you and punch Lucas every day? I’m doing this for you guys!”

“Maya—“

“AND,” she continued, unfazed, “Now we can live together, just like we wanted! Granted, you’ll have to sleep on the washers, but it’ll be like getting a steam bath every night!”

“Maya!” Riley finally interrupted, “I’m not living in the laundry room of my dorm, and you can’t either!”

“Give me one good reason why not!”

The door was opened by a boy walking backwards, carrying a full laundry basket.

“HEY, FRANCIS!” Maya bellowed. “I told you to stay outta my room!”

“B-b-but I need to wash my clothes!”

“What’s your major, Francis?”

“History.”

Maya hopped down and strode to the door.

“Then go learn what pilgrim life was like and wash your clothes in the river!” She slammed the door in his face.

Riley, beyond riled, walked confidently and sternly up to her girlfriend.

“Peaches, this is insane! You can’t let your roommate just drive you out of your dorm! That’s your home now, and you need to find a way to make it work, just like I am!” With that she huffed and walked out of the door, climbing back up the steps to her own room.

Once she’d arrived, she opened her door to see Kendra sitting on her own bed, across from Riley’s, using a large spoon to flick large globs of what appeared to be mashed potatoes at Riley’s inspirational posters, leaving splatters and missed shots all over Riley’s bedspread.

Riley, shocked, looked at the steely eyed Kendra.

“Say something.”

A moment later there was a knock at Maya’s new basement door. When she opened it, a tall, sad brunette stepped in, carry two large boxes.

“Hi honey, I’m home.”

\-----

Hunched over a table covered in papers and two laptops, Farkle wrote and typed frantically between grasping at his own hair and cleaning his glasses for the 46th time in ten minutes. The few other occupants of the dining hall seemed polite enough not to notice, or were otherwise engaged in a variety of activities, some involving food.

It was these very activities that had drawn Riley into the hall that evening, tossing grilled cheeses and apples into her backpack before noticing her friend. She walked up and smiled at him.

“Hey, professor! Can I sit down, or is there a rule against eating with students?”

Rather than respond, Farkle slammed his head onto the table, sending paper flying.

“Oh my gosh, Farkle! Are you ok?”

He raised his head up, a piece of paper clinging to his sweaty forehead.

“No, Riley, I’m really not.”

Riley stifled a laugh and took the paper off of her friend’s head, smiling compassionately.

“What’s the matter, brainiac?”

“I’m trying to outline my lesson plans and… there’s just too much pressure! When I was taking classes it was always easy, but now that I’m TEACHING? Now that I’m responsible for entire classes of other people learning?! It’s too much responsibility! What if…” His shoulders slouched. “What if I can’t do it?”

Riley raised an eyebrow.

“I’m sorry… what if Farkle Minkus can’t do something? You’re the smartest person I know, probably the smartest person in the country!”

Farkle looked up, disappointed.

“Just the country?”

Riley chuckled, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“I have never seen you give up just because something was too tough. You always rise to the occasion. I know this is scary, but facing your fears is the only way to…” Riley smiled as she realized the origin of her speech. “… to grow as a person. And Farkle, you’ve been growing into an amazing person every day since I met you. Don’t let this new challenge stop you.”

Farkle, tears welling in his eyes, laid his hand on top of Riley’s.

“Wow… thanks, Riley…” He thought for a moment. “Do you know why I stayed in public school with you guys, even though I was getting higher degrees at the same time?”

“Because friends?”

“Well, yeah… But also because Mr. Matthews always taught us stuff that you didn’t get anywhere else. Stuff that made us better people. It’s nice to know that, wherever I go… I’ll always have Ms. Matthews to do the same.”

Her chest swelling with pride at the comparison, Riley’s eyes darted at nothing, pondering her own situation. They settled, lovingly, back on her friend.

“Never doubt it, professor.”

She kissed him on the cheek before darting out of the hall, newly energized.

\-----

Riley burst into the laundry room, where Maya was folding random clothes that definitely weren’t hers.

“Hey! Did you scrounge some food?”

Her sure smile unwavering, Riley grabbed a protesting Maya wordlessly, pulling her out of the laundry room, up the stairs and through the door of her dorm room, where Kendra turned to face them from her desk chair.

“I’m sure you want to say something snarky to me right now, and I promise I’ll give you the chance…” Riley straightened herself. “But first I’m going to say something.”

Kendra adjusted condescendingly in her seat.

“College is a new start for all of us, and while that’s really exciting in a lot of ways, it’s also really scary… scary because everything that you know, that you’re used to, has to change. But facing those changes head on, not letting them scare you, that’s the only way we’re going to learn and grow, and… I mean, isn’t that the whole reason we’re here?”

Maya watched Kendra’s brow furrow at this.

“I’ve been scared of the idea of living with you since I met you, but… I’m going to face that fear. I want us to talk and get to know each other, because I bet there’s more to you than just mean comments and mashed potato catapults. And there’s more to me than just being chipper and inspirational posters. I’m nice, and I’m a really great friend to have, and… I hope we can figure out how to work through this together.”

Maya, beaming with pride, grabbed her girlfriend’s hand. Riley looked back, reading every ounce of her feelings in an instant. They turned back to Kendra, who seemed to be winding up for a response before exhaling deeply and letting her cynical mask fall down.

“Riley, I… listen, I’m sorry I’ve been so crappy since I got here. I’m having trouble adjusting to some changes, too. I’d really like to try and be friends.”

The smile that grew on Riley Matthews’ face could have powered the entire building.

“I’d love that! And, I’d love to talk about what you’re struggling with, if I can help at all.”

She sighed.

“Honestly, I’m mostly disappointed that I didn’t get to room with my girlfriend, after we came all the way to New York together for school.”

Riley and Maya’s eyebrows raised as smiles alighted on their faces.

“You have a girlfriend? Neat! This is Maya, _my_ girlfriend!”

“Hey,” Maya offered, “I like how you brood.”

Kendra nodded.

“Thanks, I work at it.”

Riley bounced a bit with excitement.

“So… who’s your girlfriend? What’s she like?”

As if on cue, a knock came from the door. Riley opened it to reveal a very familiar bubbly redhead. She gasped when she saw Maya.

“ROOMIE!! What are you doing here?!”

“Uh… my girlfriend lives here.”

“O. M. G!!!! SO DOES MINE!!!!” She leaned over to meet Kendra’s eyes. “Hi, Strawberry!”

Kendra burst up and embraced Rita.

“Oh, baby, I missed you!”

Slowly, magically, Maya and Riley turned to look at each other, the same idea brewing in their minds.

“I won’t tell your parents…” Maya offered, excited.

“I won’t tell _yours…_ ” Riley replied, ecstatic.

Hands held tight, they turned toward the other couple.

“Ladies,” Riley announced gleefully, “I think we’ve got a solution to a lot of problems…”

(Paper airplane transition)


	5. Chapter 5

The next evening found Riley and Maya putting the finishing touches on their new room. A makeshift bay window bench had been constructed out of egg crates and pillows, with purple and black curtains tastefully offset by art prints and inspirational posters on either side. Their work complete, the girls stepped back to admire.

“Oooh! I almost forgot!” Riley said, rushing toward an outlet. She plugged in a string of lights hung around the window, flashing pink and purple.

“Rita said I could use these. What do you think?”

Maya smiled a completely genuine smile at the love of her life, lost in her endless reserve of joy and warmth.

“I love it, honey.”

The two sat smiling in their new special spot, nuzzling together as they always would.

“See? Facing your fear of change leads to wonderful results.”

Maya thought for a moment.

“Wait, is that what happened?”

“Don’t ruin my victory, Peaches.”

Maya nodded, smiling, and returned her head to Riley’s shoulder.

“Y’know… there’s only one thing this room’s missing to be perfect…”

“Really?”

“Well,” Maya reconsidered, “Maybe four things…”

The door burst open at that moment, welcoming Zay, Smackle, Farkle and Lucas into the girl’s new home together.

“Housewarming! We bring pizza and games!” Lucas exclaimed.

“We are NOT playing ‘The Magical Gathering of Dungeon Masters of Catan for Nerds’ again!”

“Aw, c’mon Maya,” Zay protested, “We’re almost a quarter of the way done!”

“No nerds! Poker!”

“Excellent!” Smackle exclaimed, “I have a new predictive algorithm for poker playing I’d love to test!”

“Do you, now…?” Maya said, eyebrow raised. “Hey Farkle, how far is Atlantic City?”

“’Apples to Apples’ it is!” Riley quickly interjected, eliciting a playful pout from Maya, quickly replaced by a kiss.

The six friends sat around to play, joking and laughing far into the night.

(Michael Jacobs music)

**Author's Note:**

> And here's hoping these changes didn't scare YOU all off! I'm excited about this new series! So excited, in fact, that I wanna tell y'all the titles of the next four episodes:
> 
> Girl Meets Pledge Week  
> Girl Meets 'It' 2  
> Girl Meets Major  
> Girl Meets Abstract Thought
> 
> Hope you're as into this as I am! I know the fandom has dwindled to a handful, but I still adore all of you and this ship, and I'm on until the wheels fall off!
> 
> Comments and reviews are like a scholarship for my soul!


End file.
